United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379

United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379, adopted on November 10, 1975 by a vote of 72 to 35 (with 32 abstentions), "determine [d] that Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination". The resolution was revoked by Resolution 46/86 on December 16, 1991, and is often referenced in debates of Zionism and racism.

Background

The UN recommended a portion of the former British Mandate for Palestine to be allotted to the Jewish population at the time in the 1947 UN Partition Plan. During the 1947-1948 Civil War in Palestine, the UN Security Council passed Resolutions 42 (5 March 1948), 43 (1 Apr), 44 (1 Apr) and 46 (17 Apr), which recommended both sides of the conflict to " [r] efrain, pending the future government of Palestine ... from any political activity which might prejudice the rights, claims, or position of either community".

Throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s, the Security Council passed resolutions that condemned Israel for its retaliatory missions against Palestinians for their "fedayeen" attack raids into Israel. After the Six-Day War, the Security Council passed several resolutions condemning Israel for treating Jerusalem as its capital. Also, virtually every major Israeli military action after 1967 was condemned in various resolutions after 1967.

The resolution of 1975

The full text of Resolution 3379:

3379 (XXX). Elimination of all forms of racial discrimination

"The General Assemby,"

"Recalling" its resolution 1904 (XVIII) of 20 November 1963, proclaiming the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and in particular its affirmation that "any doctrine of racial differentiation or superiority is scientifically false, morally condemnable, socially unjust and dangerous" and its expression of alarm at "the manifestations of racial discrimination still in evidence in some areas in the world, some of which are imposed by certain Governments by means of legislative, administrative or other measures",

"Recalling also" that, in its resolution 3151 G (XXVIII) of 14 December 1973, the General Assembly condemned, "inter alia", the unholy alliance between South African racism and zionism,

"Taking note" of the Declaration of Mexico on the Equality of Women and Their Contribution to Development and Peace 1975, proclaimed by the World Conference of the International Women's Year, held at Mexico City from 19 June to 2 July 1975, which promulgated the principle that "international co-operation and peace require the achievement of national liberation and independence, the elimination of colonialism and neo-colonialism, foreign occupation, zionism, "apartheid" and racial discrimination in all its forms, as well as the recognition of the dignity of peoples and their right to self-determination",

"Taking note also" of resolution 77 (XII) adopted by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity at its twelfth ordinary session, held at Kampala from 28 July to 1 August 1975, which considered "that the racist regime in occupied Palestine and the racist regime in Zimbabwe and South Africa have a common imperialist origin, forming a whole and having the same racist structure and being organically linked in their policy aimed at repression of the dignity and integrity of the human being",

"Taking note also" of the Political Declaration and Strategy to Strengthen International Peace and Security and to Intensify Solidarity and Mutual Assistance among Non-Aligned Countries, adopted at the Conference of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Non-Aligned Countries held at Lima from 25 to 30 August 1975, which most severely condemned zionism as a threat to world peace and security and called upon all countries to oppose this racist and imperalist ideology,

"Determines" that Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination.

The Israeli response

In his address to the United Nations General Assembly the same day, 10. November 1975, Israeli Ambassador Chaim Herzog stated:

"I can point with pride to the Arab ministers who have served in my government; to the Arab deputy speaker of my Parliament; to Arab officers and men serving of their own volition in our border and police defense forces, frequently commanding Jewish troops; to the hundreds of thousands of Arabs from all over the Middle East crowding the cities of Israel every year; to the thousands of Arabs from all over the Middle East coming for medical treatment to Israel; to the peaceful coexistence which has developed; to the fact that Arabic is an official language in Israel on a par with Hebrew; to the fact that it is as natural for an Arab to serve in public office in Israel as it is incongruous to think of a Jew serving in any public office in an Arab country, indeed being admitted to many of them. Is that racism? It is not! That... is Zionism."

In his response he also said that the resolution was:

"another manifestation of the bitter anti-Semitic, anti-Jewish hatred which animates Arab society. Who would have believed that in this year, 1975, the malicious falsehoods of the 'Elders of Zion' would be distributed officially by Arab governments? Who would have believed that we would today contemplate an Arab society which teaches the vilest anti-Jewish hate in the kindergartens?... We are being attacked by a society which is motivated by the most extreme form of racism known in the world today... expressed so succinctly in the words of the leader of the PLO, Yassir Arafat, in his opening address at a symposium in Tripoli, Libya: "There will be no presence in the region other than the Arab presence..."

Herzog ended his statement, while holding a document of the resolution, with these words:

"For us, the Jewish people, this resolution based on hatred, falsehood and arrogance, is devoid of any moral or legal value. For us, the Jewish people, this is no more than a piece of paper and we shall treat it as such."

As he concluded his speech, Herzog tore the document in half.

Voting record

"Sponsored by:" (25) Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Cuba, Dahomey, Egypt, Guinea, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libyan Arab Republic, Mauritania, Morocco, North Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, South Yemen, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, and United Arab Emirates.

"Voted yes:" (72) The 25 sponsoring nations above, and additionally 47 nations: Albania, Bangladesh, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, People's Republic of China, Congo, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, German Democratic Republic, Grenada, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Laos, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mexico, Mongolia, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

"Voted no:" (35) Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Canada, Central African Republic, Costa Rica, Denmark, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Fiji, Finland, France, Federal Republic of Germany, Haiti, Honduras, Iceland, Republic of Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Luxembourg, Malawi, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Swaziland, Sweden, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Uruguay.

"Abstaining:" (32) Argentina, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burma, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Lesotho, Mauritius, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Upper Volta, Venezuela, Zaire, Zambia.

Aftermath

Resolution 3379 was revoked in 1991 by UN General Assembly Resolution 4686.

Majority votes of various UN agencies and bodies continued to assert the phrase "Zionism is racism" as the consensus in their agendas and conclusions, reflecting persistence of this view despite the annulment of the resolution.Fact|date=July 2008 Under George W. Bush's administration, the phrase was omitted from the agenda of the World Conference against Racism 2001 in Durban, South Africa, and its final communiqué.

Notes

External links

* [http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/a06f2943c226015c85256c40005d359c/761c1063530766a7052566a2005b74d1!OpenDocument United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379 (November 10, 1975)]
* [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/UN/herzogsp.html Israeli Ambassador Herzog's response to "Zionism is racism" resolution (November 10, 1975)]
* [http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9704/17/herzog.obit/herzog.rip.21.1.1.mov Video footage of Ambassador Herzog concluding his remarks and tearing the resolution in half (November 10, 1975)]
* [http://www.ajcarchives.org/main.php?GroupingId=3780 American Jewish Committees' extensive archive of materials on the Zionism is Racism controversy]